Who First Realized That The Sun Was A Fierey Ball

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.


Thanks very much in advance for the info.

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

--
djb@ | Dan Birchall, Night Operation Assistant, Subaru Telescope/NAOJ.
naoj | Views I express are my own, certainly not those of my employer.
..org | Why do phasers have fewer settings than Kitchenaid bowl mixers?

On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:21:16 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

Thank you. Apparently this was an heretical idea at the time, as the
Wikipedia goes on to say "Anaxagoras' views on such things as heavenly
bodies were considered 'dangerous'.

Now, I can't help but wonder whether Babylonian, Indian or Egyptian
knowledge of the Sun was more or less advanced than Anaxagoras'.

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:21:16 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

Thank you. Apparently this was an heretical idea at the time, as the
Wikipedia goes on to say "Anaxagoras' views on such things as heavenly
bodies were considered 'dangerous'.

Now, I can't help but wonder whether Babylonian, Indian or Egyptian
knowledge of the Sun was more or less advanced than Anaxagoras'.

Got home and got my textbook (The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy,
Ed. Michael Hoskin). In skimming over it, I was surprised how focused
its coverage of ancient astronomy is on celestial mechanics and
calendars, as opposed to cosmology.

It puts forth Anaximander of Miletus (~610-~545 BC) as thinking of stars
"as wheel-like condensations of air filled with fire, with openings
through which flames were discharged." So that might slightly predate
Anaxagoras, although Hoskins notes this is what people writing about
Anaximander centuries later say he believed; presumably we don't have
original writing by him.

--
djb@ | Dan Birchall, Night Operation Assistant, Subaru Telescope/NAOJ.
naoj | Views I express are my own, obviously not those of my employer.
..org | I only wear black so much because I can't find anything darker.

On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:30:07 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:21:16 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

Thank you. Apparently this was an heretical idea at the time, as the
Wikipedia goes on to say "Anaxagoras' views on such things as heavenly
bodies were considered 'dangerous'.

Now, I can't help but wonder whether Babylonian, Indian or Egyptian
knowledge of the Sun was more or less advanced than Anaxagoras'.

Got home and got my textbook (The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy,
Ed. Michael Hoskin). In skimming over it, I was surprised how focused
its coverage of ancient astronomy is on celestial mechanics and
calendars, as opposed to cosmology.

It puts forth Anaximander of Miletus (~610-~545 BC) as thinking of stars
"as wheel-like condensations of air filled with fire, with openings
through which flames were discharged." So that might slightly predate
Anaxagoras, although Hoskins notes this is what people writing about
Anaximander centuries later say he believed; presumably we don't have
original writing by him.


Thanks for looking this up for me, Dan. I can add that some time
between the end of the 6th century BCE and the beginning of the 5th
century BCE, Heraclitus theorized that the sun was a hollow basin that
ignited when it rose:

"On rising from the earth moist exhalations are caught in a hollow
basin with its cavity turned towards the earth and are ignited as this
basin rises from the sea in the east, to be afterwards extinguished
when it sets in the west. In this way the sun is produced, and as the
sun is constantly renewed"

So, the notion that the sun was a fiery ball had apparently still not
entered into the minds of prototypal Gk astronomers even at this
relatively late date.

On Feb 5, 2:20*pm, Thomas Radner wrote:
On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:30:07 -0600, Dan Birchall





wrote:
(Thomas Radner) wrote:
*On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:21:16 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
* I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
*first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
*still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
*or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
*as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

*Thank you. Apparently this was an heretical idea at the time, as the
*Wikipedia goes on to say "Anaxagoras' views on such things as heavenly
*bodies were considered 'dangerous'.

*Now, I can't help but wonder whether Babylonian, Indian or Egyptian
*knowledge of the Sun was more or less advanced than Anaxagoras'.

Got home and got my textbook (The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy,
Ed. Michael Hoskin). *In skimming over it, I was surprised how focused
its coverage of ancient astronomy is on celestial mechanics and
calendars, as opposed to cosmology.

It puts forth Anaximander of Miletus (~610-~545 BC) as thinking of stars
"as wheel-like condensations of air filled with fire, with openings
through which flames were discharged." *So that might slightly predate
Anaxagoras, although Hoskins notes this is what people writing about
Anaximander centuries later say he believed; presumably we don't have
original writing by him.

Thanks for looking this up for me, Dan. I can add that some time
between the end of the 6th century BCE and the beginning of the 5th
century BCE, Heraclitus theorized that the sun was a hollow basin that
ignited when it rose:

"On rising from the earth moist exhalations are caught in a hollow
basin with its cavity turned towards the earth and are ignited as this
basin rises from the sea in the east, to be afterwards extinguished
when it sets in the west. In this way the sun is produced, and as the
sun is constantly renewed"

So, the notion that the sun was a fiery ball had apparently still not
entered into the minds of prototypal Gk astronomers even at this
relatively late date.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Two better questions are Who first knew Sun were a medium star?. #2
Who first knew stars are Fusion balls? TreBert

On Feb 17, 12:06*pm, bert wrote:
On Feb 5, 2:20*pm, Thomas Radner wrote:





On Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:30:07 -0600, Dan Birchall

wrote:
(Thomas Radner) wrote:
*On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:21:16 -0600, Dan Birchall
wrote:

(Thomas Radner) wrote:
* I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
*first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
*still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
*or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
*as such.

Wikipedia says Anaxagoras (~500-~428 BC) decided it was made of
flaming metal, but I don't have my history of astronomy textbook handy
so I can't check whether there were earlier ones.

*Thank you. Apparently this was an heretical idea at the time, as the
*Wikipedia goes on to say "Anaxagoras' views on such things as heavenly
*bodies were considered 'dangerous'.

*Now, I can't help but wonder whether Babylonian, Indian or Egyptian
*knowledge of the Sun was more or less advanced than Anaxagoras'.

Got home and got my textbook (The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy,
Ed. Michael Hoskin). *In skimming over it, I was surprised how focused
its coverage of ancient astronomy is on celestial mechanics and
calendars, as opposed to cosmology.

It puts forth Anaximander of Miletus (~610-~545 BC) as thinking of stars
"as wheel-like condensations of air filled with fire, with openings
through which flames were discharged." *So that might slightly predate
Anaxagoras, although Hoskins notes this is what people writing about
Anaximander centuries later say he believed; presumably we don't have
original writing by him.

Thanks for looking this up for me, Dan. I can add that some time
between the end of the 6th century BCE and the beginning of the 5th
century BCE, Heraclitus theorized that the sun was a hollow basin that
ignited when it rose:

"On rising from the earth moist exhalations are caught in a hollow
basin with its cavity turned towards the earth and are ignited as this
basin rises from the sea in the east, to be afterwards extinguished
when it sets in the west. In this way the sun is produced, and as the
sun is constantly renewed"

So, the notion that the sun was a fiery ball had apparently still not
entered into the minds of prototypal Gk astronomers even at this
relatively late date.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Two better questions are * Who first knew Sun were a medium star?. #2
Who first knew stars are Fusion balls? * TreBert- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Feynman when he visited Hoover Dam said this. "For every drop of
water that falls an electron will move." TreBert

Thomas Radner wrote in message...
...

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Thanks very much in advance for the info.

Maybe never, since the Sun is not a fiery ball. Fire
requires oxygen to burn. There is very little oxygen
in the Sun (about 0.8%), so no fire.

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth

P.S.: "Personally I'm always ready to learn,
although I do not always like being taught."
Winston Churchill

P.P.S.: http://www.painellsworth.net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paine_Ellsworth

On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:08:31 -0400, "Painius"
wrote:

Thomas Radner wrote in message...
.. .

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Thanks very much in advance for the info.

Maybe never, since the Sun is not a fiery ball. Fire
requires oxygen to burn. There is very little oxygen

Not really. I don't know what they teach now but my high school lab
demonstrated combustion in chlorine gas.

in the Sun (about 0.8%), so no fire.

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Remove del for email

"Barry Schwarz" wrote...
in message ...
On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:08:31 -0400, "Painius"
wrote:
Thomas Radner wrote in message...
. ..

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me when people
first realized that the sun was a fiery ball, since Anaximander was
still theorizing as late as the 6th cent. BCE that the sun was a wheel
or a disk, and people were routinely depicting and refering to the sun
as such.

Thanks very much in advance for the info.

Maybe never, since the Sun is not a fiery ball. Fire
requires oxygen to burn. There is very little oxygen

Not really. I don't know what they teach now but my high school lab
demonstrated combustion in chlorine gas.

Barry ! Good to see you !

Does this mean that what we see "burning" when we
look at images of the Sun is chlorine? I read that this
element is created in supernovas and is abundant in
many stars, including our Sun.

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth

P.S. "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be
understood. Now is the time to understand more,
so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie--chemist & physicist

P.P.S.: http://www.painellsworth.net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paine_Ellsworth